gauff withdraws. how team usa is trying to stay safe while in this country the heated debate over masks. a new call for masking in schools for kids over age 2 l.a. now requiring them indoors if you're vaccinated will other cities follow fears of a delta variant triggering a major sell-off on wall street as cases rise in all 50 states my interview with the surgeon general. the u.s. blames china for a massive cyber espionage operation that attacked thousands o computers and networks, but will china be made to pay devastating and heartbreak in germany after the worst flooding in generations. the second billionaire blastoff set for tomorrow morning. we talk with jeff bezos about his mission to space and get a look at what it's like inside the capsule. plus, the hottest wheels around. old cars demanding big bucks. how to score in this sizzling market, or cash in on your car. and the five women making major league baseball history

my exclusive interview. >> announcer: this is "nbc nightly news" with lester holt >> good evening. they're still known as the 2020 olympics, and now 12 months for tokyo for olympic organizers and some american athletes, it may feel like we are still stuck in that awful year tonight, just days before the opening ceremony, two members of the usa gymnastics team are in quarantine after one tested positive for covid both alternates on the team who learned of their status after arriving in tokyo. in japan, where covid cases are climbing, officials are relying on strict protocols to protect athletes and others working at the games. a system that has so far identified dozens of covid positive individuals. our tom llamas is in tokyo tonight and has late details >> reporter: tonight, the olympics in a tug-of-war with the pandemic the first american athlete here testing positive for covid

kara eaker, an alternate for the superstar women's gymnastics team. the 18-year-old from the kansas city area was vaccinated she's asymptomatic and quarantining at a hotel. eaker's parents saying she is being incredibly brave >> as a parent, you feel totally helpless to do anything except try to keep her spirits up, and, you know, hug the heck out of her when she gets back >> reporter: nbc affiliate kshb says kara's alternate on the gymnastics tea leanne wong also now in isolation she has tested negative the alternates had been training in the same facility as the six athletes who will compete here, including simone biles. usa gymnastics says the groups were kept separate, and strict covid protocols were in place i visited the brand-new ariake gymnastics centre where the team will compete, the show piece of the tokyo games. these hand crafted wooden seats will stay empty. so imagine you pull

off a gold medal routine in tokyo and there is nobody around to witness it, including your family. well, organizers have thought of a solution. it's called the athlete moment cam think of this as a zoom call, a very intimate zoom call where the athletes will speak face-to-face with their families back home back home, wnba player katie lou samuelson also testing positive, saying she is heartbroken to miss the olympics while another member of the men's basketball team, zach lavine is in covid protocols. in the athletes village, olympians are being tested every day. there are even partitions up in the dining hall. >> just have to keep your distance and try to keep yourself safe. and everyone is wearing masks. so it just feels very separate >> tom, my understanding is the women's gymnastics team isn't staying in the athletes village >> that's right, lester the plan was always for them to stay at a hotel instead. simone biles' coach said they believe they could better control the safety that way. the women begin competing on sunday. lester

>> all right, tom, thanks the debate over mask wearing in this country heating up again tonight with a call for all school children over age 2 to wear them as the delta variant pushes up cases in every state only about two-thirds of those eligible are even partially vaccinated the dow sufferin its worst drop since last october on fears of a resurgence. here is miguel almaguer >> reporter: with children nationwide soon returning to the classroom, tonight the american academy of pediatrics says all students older than 2 and staff should wear a mask at school, an added layer of protection for the 48 million kids under 12 who still don't qualify for vaccination. the former surgeon general and others suggesting whether americans are vaccinated or not, universal mask wearing is needed again. >> it's not like we're asking people to go to the trenches with shooting war we're just asking you if it looks like it's going to help, put the

mask back on for a while. >> reporter: the face of the nation's most divisive restriction is more than just a new mandate indoors in los angeles county as covid cases spike here by 300%, ten additional counties are also recommending the fully vaccinated use face coverings inside public spaces cities like new york not yet going that far. >> we do not intend mask mandate we do intend to double down on vaccination. >> reporter: while cdc guidelines say the vaccinated don't need masks, less than half the u.s. population is fully inoculated, and as new vaccines plummet by more than 35%, infections, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to soar >> it's far more virulent patients that otherwise could handle a viral infection reasonably well getting very, very ill. >> reporter: the fight to get more americans vaccinated is also a battle against misinformation the president now

walking back comments after pointing the finger at facebook friday >> my hope is that facebook, instead of taking it personally that somehow i'm saying facebook is killing people, that they would do something about the misinformation >> miguel, vaccination mandates on college campuses are also making headlines tonight. what's the latest there? >> lester, after a lawsuit was filed at indiana university, today a federal judge ruled that the school could require students to be vaccinated before they return to campus it could be a landmark decision lester >> miguel, thank you i spoke with u.s. surgeon general dr. vivek murthy earlier, and began by asking him his reaction to the academy of pediatrics recommendation for universal mask wearing in schools this fall for both the vaccinated and unvaccinated >> lester, what we learned during this pandemic is that masks are an effective strategy for preventing the spread of infection, and especially for kids who are younger. it's actually for kids who are not vaccinated >> we have seen los

angeles county and other communities now begin to re-embrace the idea of mask mandates indoors for vaccinated and unvaccinated people. is this going in a direction you think the cdc is going to have to also embrace that strategy? >> lester, i think what l.a. county is doing is something you're going to start seeing in the other parts of the country if cases rise in localities, continue to rise, and if the unvaccinated population remains low. and i think it's very appropriate for localities to make these decisions about putting mitigation measures like masking back in place. >> does this make a statement about the efficacy of the vaccines or is this simply a way of saying we don't know who is vaccinated and who is not, so let's put masks on everyone indoors? >> well, lester, it's not a statement about the efficacy of the vaccine. here's what we've continued to see throughout this pandemic is that the vaccines remain highly effective, even against the variants that we're seeing. the worry, though, is we've got millions of people in our country who are still unvaccinated what we don't want to

see are worsening numbers of cases, hospitalizations and death. it's already starting to happen. >> the administration has been critical of facebook and social media for allowing some of these false hoax stories about vaccines to propagate out there. is it fair the say that the administration failed to recognize the depth of resistance and the political depths that we've seen >> well, i think it was very clear from the beginning, lester, that this is not going to be an easy vaccination campaign the pandemic has been polarized and has been politicized in ways that have not been helpful. we all know that, and we are now dealing with in part the consequences of that and the consequences of misinformation that has spread rapidly around our country, aided in part by technology platforms the platforms have a responsibility to reduce the spread of that misinformation because misinformation costs people their lives. >> part of my conversation earlier with dr. murthy. in just 60

seconds, a stark new warning from inside a covid unit where cases are surging.

tonight president biden saying four states are responsible for 40% of new covid case one of them is florida. the number of hospitalizations is much lower than last year's peak, but some hospitals nonetheless find themselves in an intense battle gabe gutierrez is there. >> reporter: at uf health in jacksonville, the covid resurgence has been ferocious, almost overnight. >> i thought for a while we saw the light at the end of the tunnel with only one covid positive patient, and now there hasn't even been enough time to realize that we're back to where we started >> reporter: cases here are doubling each week florida now accounts for 1/5 of new infections in the entire country >> we're gaining cases at such a rapid rate, we don't really know where it's going to stop. >> reporter: statewide, hospitalizations and deaths are still far

short of where they were in january before the vaccine was widely available. but these nurses say it is busier, at least here this is one of the hospitals for covid units. at the start of sunday, the hospital had 86 covid patients. now 123, a more than 40% increase in just one day. >> it was just insane to go from having one covid patient to having all covid patients again it's just insanity it really is >> reporter: about 85% of seniors in the state have been vaccinated, but there are people like 65-year-old deborah wells. did you get vaccinated >> no. >> reporter: we spoke with her by phone through her room's window why didn't you get vaccinated, ma'am? >> i was scared. >> reporter: she's been here since saturday do you regret not getting vaccinated a little sooner? >> i regret it, yes, i do i was dying. i wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy. >> reporter: at one point today, this hospital broke its

record of covid patients that it set back in january. lester >> gabe gutierrez tonight, thank you president biden is condemning china for a massive cyber attack, but so far at least not going beyond tough words. kelly o'donnell is at the white house for us >> reporter: tonight, blaming china for cyber crimes for the first time, the u.s. joined by european allies and nato partners publicly condemned china for malicious cyber hacks and directly hiring hackers. the attacks include that sweeping intrusion of the microsoft exchange server in march that impaired thousands of companies in the u.s. and abroad the department of justice is also bringing criminal charges against four accused hackers from chinese intelligence but so far, no further consequences for china. a stark difference from sanctions imposed on russia after cyber attacks. >> effectively, your administration is naming and shaming china, but no sanctions. why? and is that enough

>> they're still determining exactly what happened. the investigation is not finished. >> reporter: while the president often calls out russia's vladimir putin to stop hacking, today he did not address the chinese president directly >> the chinese government, not unlike the russian government, is not doing this themselves but are protecting those who are doing it, and maybe even accommodating them being able to do it. >> reporter: a senior official says by having so many u.s. allies speak out, they hope to pressure china to back off by exposing the scale of china's cyber hacking. lester >> all right, kelly, thank you. the first felony sentencing today in the u.s. capitol attack a federal judge sentenced paul allard hodgkins of florida to eight months in prison for obstructing an official proceeding. hodgkins was seen in photos and arrested after a tip to the fbi. he was carrying a large trump 2020 flag. floodwaters in europe are receding tonight, but sadly, the death toll is rising in the worst flooding there in

decades. meagan fitzgerald is in germany >> reporter: tonight, days after catastrophic devastation. the best of humanity >> so many people killed, and ask can we help nice feeling >> reporter: neighbors and strangers helping each other clean up after the worst flooding germany has seen in more than half a century. so many people have lost everything. decades of memories now piles of rubble lining the streets of neighborhoods across western germany. three months worth of rain falling in 24 hours. streams and creeks turned into raging rivers, tearing through towns, washing away roads and bridges and everything in its path >> so many people dead >> reporter: the death toll nearing 200 while police continue searching for the more than 300 still unaccounted for, the trauma of the devastation is setting in >> i wanted to help them, but i couldn't he was calling "help,

help, i can't swim." >> reporter: there was little neighbors could do in the face of the surging water, but doing as much as they can now to help each other rebuild. tonight many bridges and roadways are closed because there is fear they could collapse german officials are trying to avoid another disaster lester >> meagan fitzgerald in germany, thank you. a natural disaster of another kind. wildfires burning across 13 states tonight, the largest in oregon, has grown to nearly as big as the entire city of los angeles. that fire alone has destroyed at least 67 homes and 100 other buildings. we're just hours away now from the second leg of the billionaire space race just after the sun rises in western texas, the founder of amazon will be shipped into space tom costello was at the launch site. >> reporter: in remote van horn, texas, the anticipation is building the launch pad 45 miles out in the desert set for billionaire jeff bezos' liftoff this morning on

"today," bezos and his three fellow passengers were giddy with excitement. >> people who say they go into space, that they come back changed. i can't wait to see what it's going to do to me. >> and we have liftoff. >> reporter: while blue origin has flown 15 unmanned test flights, this will be the first to carry passengers bezos will take seat number 6 the simulator an exact replica of the capsule that will carry all four 62 miles high for three minutes of weightlessness, and six massive windows. >> as you're ascending, essentially it feels like the earth is falling way from you. >> watching the whole thing. >> watching. >> roll through your window >> exactly. >> reporter: like richard branson's virgin galactic, paying passengers are already signing up eventually blue origin plans to send six passengers at a time into space from this launch pad in the west texas desert but unlike a nasa rocket or the virgin space plane, there are no professional astronauts or pilots on board it is all controlled from the ground. blue origin insists

the ship is loaded with safety backups, with the bezos great escape set for 9:00 a.m. eastern tom costello, nbc news, van horn, texas. up next for us

here are the two battling to the line and allyson felix... simone manuel's above her trying to fight on, and above simone... getting an opportunity to show her stuff. nonstop, displayed at the highest performance level... finding something and the us takes gold! ♪ dream on ♪ ♪ dream on ♪ ♪ dream on ♪ ♪ dream on ♪ - yes! ♪ ahhhhhhh ♪ ♪ dream until your dreams come true ♪ back now with the price you pay and how your old car may now be worth more than you paid for it in a market that is simply on fire. here is kristen dahlgren >> reporter: when angela hill tried to find a new honda civic -- >> there are none out there.

>> reporter: she thought about used, but those cost almost as much as new the only saving grace was that her trade-in went for $1500 more than she planned >> i was happy about that because it has like 100,000 miles so it was a significantly used car. >> reporter: the pandemic combined with a global microchip shortage has slowed new car production now used cars are in such high demand, prices are skyrocketing president biden today. >> that's a real challenge. my administration is doing everything we can to address it. >> reporter: experts say they don't expect new car inventory to get back to normal until 2022 wholesale prices are now up 30% over last year, car dealers desperate for inventory are cold calling previous customers and offering drive-through appraisals and top dollar >> if you have a car sitting in your driveway that you're not driving, you potentially are sitting on a gold mine. >> reporter: experts say consider reaching out to different dealers if you're ready to sell. and if you have to

buy, try widening your search area, though you may not get great dealer incentives, you can still find lower interest rates, but have your financing lined up before you shop in a seller's market that shows no signs of slowing kristen dahlgren, nbc news now to paris and the incredible effort to restore the historic notre dame cathedral after that massive fire tonight nbc's molly hunter has an exclusive look inside the restoration. >> reporter: two years after the fire, tonight the fight to save this paris icon nbc news with rare access we suited up for protection the cathedral's majestic nave now a metal cage >> we're at ground level of notre dame. there are a thousand tons of scaffolding around me. we're about to take an elevator more than 100 feet up to where the fire started the conditions extreme. workers risking lead exposure but the most serious damage is best seen from up above.

we are so high up. this is where the ceiling was. this is a gaping hole where the spire collapsed, and this right here is the focus of the reconstruction chief architect philippe villeneuve says this is a dream job. but now he says the cathedral is like a sick covid patient "i absolutely have to save her." the ambitious goal, reopen by 2024 molly hunter, nbc news, paris. when we come back, my exclusive interview with women making baseball history

some baseball inspiration tonight, with history about to be made, not on the field, but this the broadcast booth. when the baltimore orioles take on the tampa bay rays tomorrow night in the mlb game of the week on youtube, history will be made >> we realize the gravity of the situation. and we really are just going to work. and oh, by the way we're making history in the process. >> reporter: for the first time in major league baseball, all five broadcasters for the game will be women. >> people wonder what it's like to be doing this job as a female, and the attention does get drawn to it. the benefit is younger generations are seeing that, and are seeing that we're removing gender titles off of job descriptions however, this is what we've been doing. >> reporter: melanie newman, sarah langs, alanna rizzo, heidi watney and lauren gardner, all seasoned professionals recognize this moment, but don't want to be

defined by it. you have all done these roles before, but never all together but does this somehow feel bigger, feel different? >> we would be remiss if we didn't talk about how unique this is and how wonderful it is to be a part of this historic event. but i think i speak for all five of us when i say that we just want this to be another quality broadcast that we put on the air >> and while they may be the first, they know they won't be the last >> you know, when you look at this, i mean, what's really important to me is just the concept of representation. >> if you want to be a sideline reporter, if you want to do play by play or pre or post, you can do that and it doesn't matter your gender, your race or anything like that >> that's "nightly news" for this monday. thank you for watching, everyone i'm lester holt. please take care of yourself and each other. good night

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next on nbc bay area news tonight. will the a's stay in oakland in the outcome mayñi depend on a crucial vote tomorrow. and then the lone çóholdout one bay area county is not yet recommending we put on our masks back indoors. we're asking solano county's health officer why he's not asking to you mask up. and. you may have heard about this, the golden gate bridge now making a humming noise on especially windy days. but did you know a bay area